So I'm at Jeff's, and Bethy needed to take dessert to a neighbor who had just had a baby. I offered to make some The Brownies, since they're simple and I wouldn't need to find a recipe. I noticed that the batter was a little salty, which was weird, because I usually add a little salt, and I hadn't done that. Then, when they were baking, they were flatter than usual and were still totally wet in the middle when they should have been done. I baked them about 10 minutes longer. They were crispy around the edges, but fine in the middle. I made some frosting for them, and they were very good, but different, much more chewy.

Later, I noticed a different Rubbermaid container of flour than the one I had used. Turns out I had used pancake mix instead of flour! Momma's getting so old!

Momma Snider wrote:So I'm at Jeff's, and Bethy needed to take dessert to a neighbor who had just had a baby. I offered to make some The Brownies, since they're simple and I wouldn't need to find a recipe. I noticed that the batter was a little salty, which was weird, because I usually add a little salt, and I hadn't done that. Then, when they were baking, they were flatter than usual and were still totally wet in the middle when they should have been done. I baked them about 10 minutes longer. They were crispy around the edges, but fine in the middle. I made some frosting for them, and they were very good, but different, much more chewy.

Later, I noticed a different Rubbermaid container of flour than the one I had used. Turns out I had used pancake mix instead of flour! Momma's getting so old!

Interesting. So, essentially, you made a chocolate biscuit bars.... Or maybe it would be more like chocolate muffin bars or something. That sounds really good, actually.

Peanut Butter Variation:
Before you start, mix 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup brown sugar and 1 egg, and spread that in the bottom the the pan. Then put the brownie batter on top, and put some peanut butter chips in it along with the chocolate chips. If you like peanut butter, this version is even better than the original.

The other thing I found out recently is that my sister only bakes hers for 25 minutes! We had a comparison party at the last family birthday night, and she swore she had only baked them 25 minutes, and they were fine. But she leaves them sitting on the stove and doesn't try to cut them until they're cool, and I get them away from the heat right away. Or maybe our ovens are just that different, but I wouldn't think so. Anyway, the thing is, if you're in a hurry you might just be able to take them out a little sooner.

And don't forget, if you're using margarine instead of butter, like I do, it has to be GOOD margarine. I use Imperial.

Funny you should say that. She's a teacher, and she cooks in her classroom every week and ties it into whatever they're learning about. (When she teaches kindergarten, for example, she has a recipe for every letter of the alphabet.) Then, for Mothers Day, she gives each mom a cookbook with all the recipes in it, with the kids' comments. This year her computer had crashed, so I was typing all the recipes for her, copying from previous books, and that's when I noticed the baking time. In fact, in several of the books, it did say 20 minutes. Turns out that was a typo, but I feel so sorry for those moms who actually tried to make brownies and ended up with ice cream topping.

I just did another variation of The Brownies, peanut butter. This time I didn't put the cookie layer in the bottom, just made the regular recipe, only with Hershey's Special Dark cocoa. I put that in the pan, and then I melted about a half-cup of peanut butter and then put about a cup of peanut butter chips in that, and stirred until they melted, too. Then I swirled that into the batter in the pan and baked as usual.

For frosting, I tried the Twix bar recipe, which is 2/3 cup of peanut butter, melted with 1 cup chocolate chips.

Sandee recently made some brownies, and they were mightily tasty. The only complaint I have is that I like brownies with nuts, but her allergies are such that I don't often get them. In any case, as I was taking a brownie, I noticed my jar of chunky peanut butter. Simply spread a little on top and it's like an open faced Reeses peanut butter cup. Sorta, but better.

Sorry folks, that's the closest thing to a recipe you'll be getting from me.

I would guess by now you have discovered the um... side effect of having that much Hershey's Special dark cocoa in a recipe. Personally, I love the dark chocolate taste, so I use it anyway, but I warn people of the after effects.

No, I haven't noticed any side effects. Maybe if I had eaten more than one or two brownies, but I do try not to do that. I'll have to ask the custodian, who was the reason I made them, and who took a whole plate home.

The reason I made them was that it was his birthday, and we had a lunch for him, and I always get dibs on the cake. For him I always make a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. But the PTA decided they would bring him a cake, not knowing that I always make him one, only they said they were going to bring carrot cake, and I don't know if he even likes carrot cake. So I made The Brownies, a plate for him and a plate for the rest of us to share. Then it turned out they were BUYING the carrot cake, and Costco was out of them, so they just brought a chocolate Costco cake, and we just sent it straight to the staff lounge and we ate brownies.

My sister came up with another variation of The Brownies that I am very excited about. She used brown sugar instead of white sugar in the brownies, and butterscotch chip instead of chocolate, and then put brown sugar in the frosting.

Frosting:4 TB butter melting in a pan2 cups brown sugar added to itBoil for about a minuteRemove from heat and adddash of salt1 tsp. vanilla Mix that all up then alternatepowdered sugar and evaporated milk until it's how you will like it.

I made the brown sugar brownies the other night, only I didn't have butterscotch chips. I used white chocolate chips and some milk chocolate chips. Interesting thing about white chocolate chips, they seem to cook more than other chips. In this case, they got a little bit crunchy, so some people thought they were nuts. I was okay with that, since I knew they weren't. And the frosting! Oh, my. I think I can tweak it a little bit and make See's Butterscotch Squares, which are my favorites. The texture is a little grainy, just perfect.

I don't think I've mentioned the different way I'm making frosting now, when it's for The Brownies. I melt the butter on the stove and add a little bit of the evaporated milk, maybe 2 Tbsp. I keep cooking it while I stir in about a third of the powdered sugar. Then I get the hand mixer and beat in the cocoa and vanilla and the rest of the powdered sugar, and more milk if necessary. The effect is that it's almost like fudge, rather than frosting. I like that.

New change to my The Brownies:Instead of making my regular frosting last night, I decided to make the one that I used to put on the Wilderness Cherry Chocolate cake. Have you had THAT? Because that's so good! For that, you just mix a can of cherry pie filling into a chocolate cake mix, bake, and then pour this concoction on top:

1 cup sugar1/3 cup milk (as always, evaporated milk is best)1/3 cup butter1 cup chocolate chipsCook sugar, milk, and butter together to a rolling boil, and boil one minute. Stir in chocolate chips until melted, and pour over warm cake. Or Brownies. Or into a cup so you can eat it with a spoon as soon as it cools enough that it won't burn your mouth.